Due to circumstances completely beyond our control, both screenings of the STAR WARS trilogy at International House Philadelphia have been cancelled. The cancellation of the screenings was ordered by 20th Century Fox and Criterion Pictures, with whom we secured rights to show the STAR WARS movies back in February of this year.
While Exhumed Films and International House are not privy to all details regarding the situation, our understanding is that the cancellations are due to movie rights issu...
Due to circumstances completely beyond our control, both screenings of the STAR WARS trilogy at International House Philadelphia have been cancelled. The cancellation of the screenings was ordered by 20th Century Fox and Criterion Pictures, with whom we secured rights to show the STAR WARS movies back in February of this year.
While Exhumed Films and International House are not privy to all details regarding the situation, our understanding is that the cancellations are due to movie rights issues and disagreements between 20th Century Fox, Criterion Pictures (who coordinated all bookings for the films) and Lucasfilm Ltd. It is also our understanding that all screenings of the STAR WARS movies are currently being disallowed nationwide, with the exception of a digital roadshow tour of the 1997 Special Editions. This is not something which is just impacting the Exhumed Films sponsored events; many theaters across the country have had their permission to show the STAR WARS movies revoked.
We have spent countless hours over the past month negotiating with representatives and executives at both Criterion Pictures and 20th Century Fox to have our shows reinstated, but just received final word this week that our requests were ultimately denied.
Please know that we are just as confused, frustrated, and disappointed about this turn of events as our audience members likely are. Exhumed Films operated in good faith in our booking of the STAR WARS movies: we coordinated details with Criterion Pictures very carefully to be sure that we were doing everything properly and were in complete compliance with the terms of agreement. We can say with 100% assurance that this unfortunate situation is in no way due to any impropriety or misunderstanding on the part of Exhumed Films or International House Philadelphia. Please also know that we exhausted every avenue possible in order to try to save these screenings and fulfill our promise to our audiences.
If you purchased your tickets online, TicketFly will refund your credit card directly, including service fees, within the next few business days. If you purchased from the International House box office by phone, they will contact you to obtain your credit card info and process your refund. For those few who purchased your tickets from the box office in person, please contact them by calling 215-895-6575 or emailing boxoffice@ihphilly.org.
While we know not all STAR WARS ticket holders will be interested in an alternate program, we do have a major horror-themed marathon which we will now present on August 21 in place of the cancelled STAR WARS screening: Exhumed Films is proud to host the HG Lewis Gore-o-thon, featuring the actual
Godfather of Gore, Herschel Gordon Lewis himself, in attendance. Please stay tuned to the Exhumed Films website & Facebook page over the coming days for the official announcement and additional program details.
Again, we are truly sorry to have to relay this information regarding cancellation of the STAR WARS screenings, and deeply apologize for the inconvenience.